CVSA Adds English Proficiency to Out-of-Service Criteria

Major Change in Driver Compliance Standards

Effective June 25, 2025, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) will enforce a new out-of-service (OOS) criteria that significantly impact commercial drivers and motor carriers. This change comes in response to an executive order by President Donald J. Trump, titled "Enforcing Commonsense Rules of the Road for America’s Truck Drivers." (https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/04/enforcing-commonsense-rules-of-the-road-for-americas-truck-drivers/) 

The CVSA Board of Directors voted to include non-compliance with 49 CFR 391.11(b)(2) — English language proficiency — as a violation warranting placing a driver out of service in the United States.

What the Regulation Says

Under 49 CFR 391.11(b)(2), commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers must be able to:

Read and speak the English language sufficiently to:

✅ Converse with the general public,

✅ Understand highway traffic signs and signals,

✅ Respond to official inquiries,

✅ Make entries on reports and records.

Until now, violations of this provision were considered compliance issues but did not lead to a driver being placed out of service during roadside inspections.

What’s Changing

The CVSA will now add “English Proficiency (U.S. Only)” to Part I – Driver of the North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria. 

This means, a driver who cannot sufficiently read or speak English to communicate with safety officials during an inspection may now be placed out of service on the spot.

Inspectors will follow new FMCSA-issued guidance to apply this rule consistently across all states.

This change applies only within the U.S., not Canada or Mexico.

Key Provisions of the Executive Order

The order instructs the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to enforce the existing federal regulation (49 C.F.R. § 391.11(b)(2)) that requires commercial drivers to read and speak English sufficiently to converse with the general public, understand traffic signs and signals, respond to official inquiries, and make entries on reports and records.

It rescinds the 2016 guidance that limited enforcement of English proficiency requirements, directing the FMCSA to issue new inspection procedures.

The order mandates that drivers who fail to meet English proficiency standards be placed out-of-service, effectively barring them from operating commercial vehicles until compliance is achieved.

The DOT is tasked with reviewing the issuance of non-domiciled Commercial Driver’s Licenses (CDLs) by state agencies to identify irregularities and ensure the authenticity and validity of both domestic and international commercial driving credentials.

Within 60 days, the Secretary of Transportation must identify and implement additional actions to improve the working conditions of American truck drivers.

Factsheet